Why i’ve switched from Ubuntu to Mac

I’d used linux and Ubuntu for many years, both on server and on desktop. Main reason it was stability of linux. Linux was much more stable than Windows, where you need to reinstall it every half a year, and anyway, you’ll get a lot of crashes.

Few years ago Ubuntu has really ugly UI and lack of features for desktop users. But things are changing, right now it looks much better, developers are adding features, one by one. But, at other hand, after every added feature we get a lot of added bugs :( It’s okay, sadly, but it’s a rule of software development. The problem that nobody want to fix them. It’s cool to add a new feature, but fixing a bug isn’t, because nobody sees it. So, there is no motivation to fix bugs.

As a result – we have unstable OS. Gnome crashes few times a week, have a lot of UI issues, wifi problems, hibernate problems, multi-monitor problems, slow as a snail, and seems that you need to reinstall it periodically, etc, etc :( So Windows becomes more solid at this point.

Ok, it tries to be like Mac OS. But right now it more like a very ugly Mac OS.

Looks like Linux have lost its advantages and opportunities at desktop market :( So, I just bought a Macbook Pro.

PS linux is still doing good on servers, i’m talking only about desktop

False accusation is not a good way to prove your point.
I have windows 7 installed on 3 laptops for 2 years and none of them crashed once. And I do development on those machines.
I am not a fan of windows but those are the facts.

Igor Artamonov

Yes, it’s my point too. I mean that Win 95 and Win XP has a lot of problems, but, as I know, latests Windows are pretty stable

zoidberg

you must not know how to use linux. I’m using 11.04 and its incredibly more stable than my mac. WTF does ugly matter when functionality, stability, and productivity increases.

franco

Fully agree! Linux is becoming unstable and the reason is exactly adding features instead of fixing bugs. The same applies to all open source including Firefox and Evolution Mail. To complicate things new versions become incompatible with old plugins (or better plugin developers do not have time to port plugins).

I opted for Linux for preferring stability instead of features, but things are changing, like in its applications. Now mail program tries to understand (from text, the MS way) if I forgot an attachment but looses part of my inbox!

Maybe as result of recession free time became scarce and well … my time too and that’s only the reason I still did not migrate.

Mateus

I don’t care about installing docks, setting transparency on stuffs and so on, my ubuntu does exactly what i need for work.
“it’s more like a very ugly Mac OS” Well, customize your own.
I can’t even remember the last time I had to restart my machine, actually even the gdm.
c’mom try to find another reason, if It’s what you want to, to explain why you bought yourself a MAC.

Thai

I think Ubuntu is quite stable, but if you need more stability, try LMDE (linux mint debian edition).

“c’mom try to find another reason, if It’s what you want to, to explain why you bought yourself a MAC”: agreed.

Dean

I just tried to make Ubuntu 10.04 64-bit my desktop OS on my Dell M4400 laptop and had to give it up. The 64-bit NVidia driver needed to support an external monitor worked once, but that was it. It got to the point where Ubuntu would not even boot.

Without drivers to support the vast array of devices that people use with their desktop systems Linux has not chance on the desktop.

The Linux desktop is dead. Long live Linux on servers and embedded devices.

BadBrad

We’ll miss you.

http://www.hillinghypnotherapy.co.uk Anthony Hilling

It will be interesting to see how you get on with the Mac.

Tarun

There isn’t much doubt at all that the Windows 7 SP1 beats any desktop flavor of Linux in UI stability, driver support, multi-monitor support, sleep/hibernate, etc

Linux has its niche – it is brilliant for making tight headless images for VM’s in the cloud space, it excels in the embedded space, it is great as a base platform for specialized OS’es like Android.

But desktop linux ? That is indeed dying – even devs who like a command line and a UNIX’ey environment prefer to use OSX.

Jack Li

Same experience as I had in the past few months. I still wish some days Desktop Linux e.g. Ubuntu could somehow compare with the notorious windows. But at the moment i prefer to stick to my macbook air :p

Rudy Vissers

I am sorry but I do not agree with your point of view. Beginning of 2012 I have entirely switched from Windows to Ubuntu 11.10 and later to 12.04. I am a software engineer so you can consider me as an advanced user. It is of course true that there are some problems… But in general if you do not behave like a cow boy and by this I mean, most of the applications you install come from the ubuntu software center then ubuntu is extrelemy stable (never had a gnome crash like you have described and even less than a few a week). For a professional programmer, unity is a very nice environement. I very like it. It is not ugly… What are you talking about ? I have my launcher on the left with all my applications, very nice icons. It works ! But I repeat, use the ubuntu software center. The applications were tested to work with the ubuntu version you use (64 bits on on dell 3700). The problems I had : I have a hybrid laptop (2 graphical cards) and it is now supported through the bumblebee project. Then I had problems with the battery solved removing the scripts run after the laptopn is on battery. I did 2 things. No more. Great environnement. I didn’t say mac is a bad thing. But I am sorry do not say that ubuntu is not stable… It is not true. It is as I am writting a very stable and very nice environnement to work with…

Rudy Vissers

Try to boot Windows 7 in around 1 minute and shut down in around the same time. Ubuntu a niche ? Ha ha. 200 millions users a niche ? Ha ha ha ! For the mac users (that I like very much) we have more or less the same philosophy but where we differ… We do not pay 378 millions to a single ceo.. We want that e v e r y b o d y having access to a nice free desktop… We want a revolution… No to make richer a bunch of billionaires…